@rowan-tandel

What is your favorite holiday memory?

“My father ruined the myth of Santa Clause for me when I was six and he asked why I still believed in that man. So that Christmas, my mom must’ve told him to make it up to me and I got a Rolex because he thought that was appropriate. I was able to sell that when I was abroad and let me tell you, definitely worth it. Thanks dad.”

chessieabernathy‌:

In the short time King and Ben had lived with O and Chessie, the latter had become decently close to Ben. And after O was jetted off to international meetings and shows for two weeks, she had grown more fond of their visitors-turned-roommates, feeling as though the four were building a sibling-esque relationship. She’d begun to look forward to her morning coffee and cigarette with Ben, and while this morning was motivated by the inability to sleep, it was no exception to a rule. His words provoked an eye roll, though she didn’t fight his request – Her own headache was in full swing, as well. “I’m not sure,” Chessie responded quietly, glancing out the large balcony windows before continuing. “I’m not sure my nicotine addiction is bad enough to make me trek through snow, though.” She spoke bitterly, another eye roll following. “And going to change sounds like too much work.” Chessie couldn’t help but whine, slumping against the counter. “This coffee is so warm, I don’t know if I can move.”

He sighed at her hesitation. He’d probably go out and smoke by himself then. He was going to get a little stir crazy with all of these people in here. “Don’t be so dramatic,” He responded, which was ironic considering his own tendencies. “I’m sure it’s only a little cold out. I think you’ll be fine out there,” He gestured towards the window. “You mean your milk with a little dash of coffee.” Ever since he moved to Europe, he drank his coffee black. Everything else seemed way too weak to him now. “Put pants on and the smoke will keep you warm. I’ve needed a drag ever since I got pummeled in the face yesterday.”

 quinnxarchibald‌:

“You could have done it and you know it.” Quinn responded, crossing his arms over his chest. As Ben spoke, Quinn felt a wall around himself begin to crumble. Something about the look in Ben’s eyes made him want to stop everything and comfort the brunet. He was still mad, so incredibly mad, but seeing Ben so upset always made Quinn sad. “Ben…” Quinn paused, shaking his head. “Listen. You asked me to do it but I said yes. I agreed to it. I’m not mad about that.” Quinn admitted, shaking his head. “I’m mad that you left. I was ready to deal with the aftermath but not without you.”

He shook his head, trying to convince himself that he couldn’t have reached out to Quinn. It just wouldn’t have been possible, right? “I knew shit was gonna be bad but not that bad that it’d really fuck shit up,” For once, he should’ve been thinking about Quinn too, not just himself. “I had to leave,” He knew that it didn’t make sense nor could he even explain why but he had to. “I had to. I couldn’t stay here. I needed to leave.”

bishopkirbcy‌:

“How the fuck is my sister with someone as tedious as you?” The words came out before Bishop could stop them. Drugs had a habit of making him much more unfiltered than he really liked, but at least he was calling a spade a spade. Might as well go all in, “Like, I can understand not wanting to be a part of all,” Bishop gestured with his hand to the pretentious party that was unfolding before them, “this fuckery. Status symbols, the microscope. But, you’re like this hipster construct that has consumed too much kool-aid of what you think is supposed to be ‘relaxed’ and ‘cool’. It literally blows my mind that my sister married such a jerkoff.” Ben wanted to be friends, but Bishop didn’t. He figured if he just kept being his normal asshole self, it would play out like he wanted.

He watched Bishop go on a rant about him. And just like that, he felt his hand squeezing his bottle as his nostrils flared. Fuck Bishop. He knew King was out of his league, which is why he never even tried to pursue her back in the day. But running into her in Italy was no coincidence. “You know what?” He said before he paused as he moved closer towards Bishop, “You don’t have to get it but you need to accept it. I love King. It doesn’t matter what you think, or what your parents think. You can say what you want about me, but don’t say shit when you don’t even know what our relationship is like.” He didn’t care about being friends with Bishop, but he did care about King. He didn’t like anyone bashing their relationship. And if he wasn’t King’s brother, Ben would’ve thrown at least one fist towards his face already. “If I were you, I’d be there for King,” He lectured, “That’s what siblings are supposed to do.” Ben didn’t care if he was overstepping his boundaries, Bishop fucked up calling him a hipster construct.

oatanas‌:

“Oh my God,” O groaned through a laugh, shaking her head at Ben. “Are you gonna be that guy who reminds us all how well traveled and cultured he is all the time?” This time she really was joking, and both the grin on her face and the light tone she carried made that evident. The hand not currently clutching her drink lifted to wave away Ben’s thanks. “It’s nothing. Seriously.” As far as she was concerned they didn’t owe her anything. While things may have been weird between her and King for a brief moment, that didn’t change the fact that she was practically family. Which now made Ben practically family, even if she didn’t really know him. “I’m glad to have you guys. Although when you and King do decide to run away for a break again, make sure she says bye this time.”

“Am I that guy? I had no idea people think of me as cultured now.” He said proudly. This was something to him. The fact that she took them in with a minimal amount of questions was pretty impressive. “If you say so,” He guessed it didn’t make sense to argue about something that seemed like no big deal to her. Ben would make it up to O somehow. Maybe he could send O and King somewhere nice. However, that would require money and not reaching out to his parents meant he was on a tight budget. He’d figure out something. It was the least he could do to show his thanks while he was here to get his shit together. He tried to be as low maintenance as possible, never intruding anywhere in the house. Except when it came to coffee. He wasn’t sure how long they’d be staying, especially since they were here for Ben to make amends. However, he nodded, “I’ll make sure she does,” Maybe they would visit more often now that they ripped the band-aid off. “Can I get you another drink or something?”

taterodriguez‌:

Tate was sure that when he spoke of unfinished business to attend to that it had something to do with Quinn and that Tate would get some type of earful about it later this evening.  “That doesn’t sound fun,” Tate said simply.  “You should come to a party because you want to, not because you feel like you have to.  It’s an opportunity to have fun and let loose,” Tate sipped from their glass again.  “Honestly.  Not a whole lot.  Running a restaurant, writing books, you know… nothing too exciting.”

“Wife?  You’re married?”  Tate gave a raise of their brow.  The last thing Tate would’ve expected Ben to return home with was a wife, if at all.  “I mean, O has a pretty big heart, so that doesn’t surprise me at all.  It’s good that you had somewhere to stay when you got back, though.”  Tate should get an award for the amount of civility they’ve been able to maintain because they’d imagined the day that Ben had the gall to return and what would happen.  But, they’d leave that to their brother.  “I’m sure she’ll find me somewhere,” Tate chuckled.  “I don’t mind.  You’re more than welcome to stay.”

“I haven’t been in the partying mood since I’ve been back here,” He admitted, “I’ll make a real appearance when I’m ready. I’m not prepared for all of the questions that people are going to ask,” They were so accomplished compared to Ben. All he did was travel, meanwhile, they had been doing actual shit. “Good for you. I’ll have to try out the restaurant one of these days. Although, I’m expecting some sort of special treatment when I’m there,” He was fully joking, he figured no one around here would ever give him special treatment again. Especially if Tate knew what he did to Quinn. 

He forgot that not everyone knew that. “Yeah, thanks to the dude that officiated it in Greece, he married me and King,” They arrived in New York without securing a place to live so it was really lucky that O took both of them in. “Thank you, I appreciate that. Do you want another drink?”

monty-santos‌:

“I don’t know, I’ve never tried to check out more than two at once,” Monty chuckled, as he started looking around and picking and picking a direction, “Going to Times Square is pretty much the opposite of the point of wandering around.  It’s way too crowded,” he said as he shoved his hands in his pockets, “And think about it. Most of them have vacation time that they can have whenever they want, so they’ll try to go in what they think is the off-season, which is why they’re here.  Or it’s the only time that they can get off.  Either way it’s not the same ones every day, and I’m sure that there were people who thought the same thing about you when you were traveling.  I just try to let them do their thing, because they’re happy and not really hurting anyone. Plus they boost the city’s economy and that’s always a good thing.”

“You should try that next time and see how many they let you take,” He suggested. “Let's go to the library first and do it.” Ben always likes to test the limits and see how much he can actually get away with. Although that shot him in the foot on New Year’s Eve. “But New York City? Out of everywhere? Why not the Keys or the Bahamas? Who would want to vacation here?” Maybe it was because he grew up and he wasn’t very fond of the city. The city has always been the place where he has fucked up the most. “I never looked like a tourist,” He argued, “I fit in all around Europe.” He insisted. “I mean the economy would be fine without a billion tourists. It costs five bucks to get water at some places here. And people around here will pay for that. I think it’s more of the desire to live here.”